Intricate: The Beginning of Us| MARKNOMINHYUCK(bxbxbxb)

47: Approval

Jaemin

When Mark-Hyung suggested that it was best if we met up at my house, I was all up for it. According to my memory, both my mom and brother were going to be at work from 2-11 PM so there should have been no problem. There would be privacy and along with that, I would feel comforted at the thought of being at my home as we talked about... everything.

However.

I seemed to have forgotten the detail that Jaehyun-Hyung was taking Thursday off to accompany one of his friends to the doctor. Guess what? Today is Thursday.

When I walk into the house and see him sitting on the sofa, I instantly freeze. It's mostly out of surprise and not knowing what to do. Then, I look behind me and see the three giving me confused expressions.

"What's up?" Donhyuck's the first to speak after seconds of silence.

"I, um... I forgot my brother would be home," I tell them quietly, anxiously glancing inside to see if Jaehyun-Hyung had spotted us. I sigh in relief upon seeing that he's still intently watching a documentary on TV. I slowly close the door, wincing slightly at the sound it made when it did. "Sorry guys. I thought the house was free today."

"Well, maybe-" Mark-Hyung starts but is cut off by the sound of the door opening.

With shock, we all turn to look behind me, coming face-to-face with my brother's perplexed expression. "What's going on here?" He asks slowly, eyeing each of them with furrowed eyebrows. He turns to me. "Jaem, what's going on here?" He questions again, looking a whole lot more awake than he has in the past 4 years.

"I- I." I trust my brother. Like a lot. And I always tell him everything but I wasn't sure that right now would be a good idea. "My friends and I were going to hang out. I forgot that you were home today," I answer. "We'll go elsewhere," I tell him with a wide smile, turning around, not waiting for his response.

I tug onto Mark-Hyung's and Jeno's hands, hoping that Donghyuck would get the message and follow. We don't get far, however. Jaehyun's authorized voice quickly stops us. "Stop," he says simply but it makes us all tense up. "Just stay here. There's no harm in that." When we turn back to look at him, there's a sickingly sweet smile stretched onto his lips and the only things that came to mind was: oh shit...

-----

Mark

Lately, there's been a lot of awkwardness in my life. Today was no exception.

The four of us sat down on the long sofa while Jaemin's brother sat on the one person sofa beside us. The TV is still on, the documentary on a serial killer ongoing. Nobody paid attention to it, though, or at least I think. I sure as hell wasn't. I just kept on taking glances at everyone who was pretending to actually intently look at it. I made eye contact with Jaemin, too, and we sent strained smiles at each other whenever we did and once he mouthed a sorry to me.

"So," his older brother drawled out as the credits of the movie played. "What are you names?" He questions with a grin which seemed rather strained and which frankly, made me shiver slightly.

I glance at the others but they were avoiding all eye contact with the older man and when our gazes connected, I knew that it was on me. "I'm Lee Minhyung but you can call me Mark," I tell him with a kind smile on my face.

"Why?"

"Excuse me?" I ask back, my eyes slightly wide.

"Why would I call you Mark?" He questions, crossing his arms and leaning back onto the sofa, one eyebrow raised and he tapped a finger on his forearm.

He just got a whole lot more intimidating...

"Everyone calls me that," I laugh awkwardly. "I was mostly raised in Canada so the name just stuck to me even after moving to Korea," I state.

He stares right into my soul for a couple more seconds before taking in a sharp breath and moving his eyes to Jeno. I saw him turn rigid before hiding it, keeping a stoned expression as usual. The fact that he was even slightly intimidated by Jaemin's brother almost made me laugh out loud, though. "You?" The man asks, allowing a certain degree of coldness to slip out of his voice.

"Lee Jeno," he simply says, bravely keeping eye contact with the other.

An approving glint chimes in the older man's eyes before he turns to the last boy, his eyes softening slightly and smiling a little. "I'm Lee Donghyuck," Donghyuck says with a wide smile before he can get any words out.

"Well, nice to meet you all," he responds, looking like a boss as he leans further into the chair and looks at us one by one with a coldness in his eyes.

He was trying to figure us out, I figured, as he looked at us over and over again. He was deciding whether we were good enough for his brother or not. How he knew, I would never know. I was okay with it. I knew a protective sibling when I saw one, having one myself. Frankly, I'm glad Jaemin has someone like this. Someone who cherishes him and wouldn't think twice to protect him. I would like to be that. More, actually.

Jaehyun looks down at his wrist watch before standing up, the four of us doing the same in a domino effect, Jaemin being slower than us. "Are you leaving?" He asks, not even trying to contain his relief.

His older brother rolls his eyes, leaning towards him and kissing his forehead tenderly. "Yes, I am. It's about time for Sungchan's appointment. I'll be back around 8. Don't miss me too much," he says the last part teasingly, allowing a joking glint into his eyes before looking at us. He gives us a warm smile, seeming to have decided how he feels about us. "I hope to see you guys soon," he tells us in approval.

He walks away with Jaemin trailing behind him. As soon as I hear the door shut close, I let out a sigh.

"Sorry about that, guys," the pink-haired boy says as he comes back to the living room, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine," I smile at him after recompossing myself. "It's great, actually."

We just got approval from his brother and I think that's a huge step.